A Picture is Worth $29.22
Recently I
have been enlarging the width of our driveway with black 16x16 pavers. I have been doing it on the sly, because
Cynthia, the local HOA queen probably would say it is against regulations. The thing is, last fall, the HOA gave us a new
driveway. Yes, the old one was cracked
and a bit of an eyesore, but it was just fine with me.
The new
driveway is at least 16 inches narrower than the original driveway. You can not get in or out of the car without walking on
the grass (sometimes mud.) It is
difficult to enter the driveway without running over the curb and onto some of
the grass, which creates the aforementioned sometimes mud.
So, I am
taking matters into my own hands and enlarging the driveway with the
pavers. If the HOA objects, there will
be a war. The pavers are not permanent. I am doing the job on the sly because I am
non-confrontational, however, If the HOA wants to redo my driveway to its
original width, I will not object.
Anyway, we
purchased 6 pavers at Lowes. There is no
price marked on each paver at Lowes, so Mrs. C took a picture of the description
and the price to show the cashier and save the time of a “price check.” Mrs. C is smart that way.
A few days
later we realized that we needed three more pavers. I was sent to Lowes to buy them with
instructions to remember the picture trick again. I loaded up the pavers and snapped a picture
of the price.
They were $8.75
a paver.
That seemed
high to me. I double checked. On one shelf were the 16x16 pavers and a
price 3.88 with an arrow to the pavers.
On the same price indicator was an arrow pointing down to larger pavers
which cost 8.75 each. I had taken a
picture of the wrong paver price. My pavers were $3.88.
No harm no
foul, I re-took the picture of the correct paver price. The cashier thanked me for being so smart to
take the picture. I advised her that my wife
was the smart one who told me to be sure to get a picture.
When I got
home, I told Mrs. C that the cashier thanked me for being smart with the
picture taking and I gave her credit for the idea. I then told her how I almost screwed up and
took the wrong picture.
“Fortunately,
I caught my error or I would have been charged $3.87 too much for each paver.”
“Wait, how
much were the pavers?”
“$3.88.”
“We paid
$8.75 each for the others we bought.”
“No way!”
“I must have
done what you almost did and the cashier did not catch the error.”
“I could
go back and try to explain, they might believe me and refund the money…naw…it
is worth $29.22 to finally have something to hold over on you.”
“So, now I
am the jerk?”
“Only
until the next time I do something stupid.”
I take some delight
in Mrs. C’s mistake. Is that wrong?
You are not wrong to delight in her mistake, but I think the cashier was wrong to not check the price, just in case. In my world almost $30 is a lot of money.
ReplyDeleteLowe's has about 2 billion products, I don't blame the cashier for not knowing we had a smaller paver from the picture or not knowing the general price of pavers...we showed her the picture, why would we lie? Anyway, $30 is not chump change to me either. trip to the store is a few miles and it would take quite some time trying to explain what happened to a manager with no guarantee they would decide to give us the money, so sometimes you just have to except a loss.
DeleteI agree with River that the cashier was wrong not to check the price. I'd let the matter go and in the meantime hope the HOA doesn't catch on with what you are doing.
ReplyDeletebetty
$29.22? That's a casino trip and a half for you! But I can see how you would get more pleasure from holding that amount over on Mrs. C than you would from gambling it.
ReplyDeletei am not familiar with how your driveway was narrowed by some local authority ?
ReplyDeletei too count it is cashier to be blamed for ,but i don't know why if were you i would have done it same way i mean simply as directed :)
i hope you driveway get back to it's original position dear Joe
here's a pic of the lovely work the pavers did.
ReplyDeletesorry, can't import pic. i'll hav cranky post it.
ReplyDeleteLoved Mrs. C's idea about taking the picture. Sorry it didn't work out as intended but for once, you do have the upper edge. Can't wait to see your handy work and hope the HOA remains oblivious.
ReplyDeleteThat’s weird that the narrowed the driveway. Didn’t they have to plant grass along the sides?
ReplyDeleteThey narrowed the driveway to cut costs. It's like candy bars - they used to be big and cheap. Throughout the years, they shrank. That's what the HOA is doing to your driveway. Years from now, you won't even have a driveway big enough to fit a vehicle - oh but it would fit a tiny electric one. It's a conspiracy I tell you!
ReplyDeleteEveryone messes up on occasion.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your pavers, which, since they are temporary and you are using them as lawn décor (you can say) should be allowed.
The narrow driveway isn't just smaller, it's dangerous. One step in a divit or slip in mud or wet grass would be bad! This coming from the person who took a face plant on dry garage floor...just saying! Many times I've taken pics of where I parked the car in a big or different parking lot. Didn't think about taking a pic of a price..smart!
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